In the first four months of this year, export values of farming, forestry and fishery sectors had a year-on-year decline of 5.1 per cent to US$8.5 billion, including a strong drop in coffee and seafood exports, at 38.3 per cent and 15 per cent, respectively. — Photo VNA

HA NOI (Biz Hub) — The Ministry of Industry and Trade (MoIT) will promote cooperation with other ministries and sectors to increase exports in the farming, forestry and fishery sectors, said an official of the ministry.

The ministry's largest goal was to solve existing difficulties at enterprises and exploit all opportunities to export their products to the world market, deputy minister of industry and trade Tran Tuan Anh said in Ha Noi on Monday at the ministry's conference on solving difficulties in exporting agro-fishery products.

At the conference, Duong Phuong Thao, deputy director of MoIT's Export and Import Department, said in the first four months of this year, export values of farming, forestry and fishery sectors had a year-on-year decline of 5.1 per cent to US$8.5 billion, including a strong drop in coffee and seafood exports, at 38.3 per cent and 15 per cent, respectively.

The reduction was due to higher supply of farming products, including rice in Thailand, India and Pakistan, and shrimp in India and Thailand, Thao said.

Other reasons of the decline in the export value involved increasing prices of the US dollar against the Yen and Euro, resulting in seafood importers having difficulties in negotiations of importing seafood, and the increase of trade and technical barriers for farming, forestry and fishery products in import countries, she said.

During the conference, members of the agro-fishery associations complained about the inadequate market information feedback received from overseas representative offices, which negatively affected the operation of domestic enterprises.

Vice General Secretary of the Viet Nam Association of Seafood Exporters and Producers Nguyen Hoai Nam proposed that trade promotion, whose public budget has shrunk, receive a boost through improved promotional methods.

The sector needs to become a national priority during negotiations for trade pacts between Viet Nam and other countries, he said.

Agreeing with Nam, General Secretary of the Viet Nam Coffee and Cocoa Association Nguyen Viet Vinh suggested increasing visits to other countries and conducting more market research surveys by those business delegations, with support by the Ministry of Industry and Trade.

Deputy Minister Tran Tuan Anh also said the ministry would issue or propose that the Government issue a directive on promoting farming, forestry and fishery exports.The ministry would ask trade offices of Viet Nam in foreign countries to provide more support for enterprises and share market information to assist in import and export activities, Anh said.

Further, MoIT would propose that the State Bank of Viet Nam consider policies on credit and guarantees for small- and medium sized enterprises, as well as for an exchange rate that creates favourable conditions for them to access capital with soft interest rates and develop export activities, he said.

Additionally, the ministry would focus on seeking new markets and consolidating its role in consulting domestic businesses during trade negotiations, assessing the competitiveness of local firms and consider adjusting production costs. — VNS